Nevada: Stateline casinos to introduce paid parking for upcoming Tahoe South Events Center

The casino corridor in Stateline, Nevada, is set to see more paid parking, in addition to microtransit, as part of permitting requirements for the upcoming Tahoe South Events Center. The southeastern shore of Lake Tahoe is home to four casino resorts: Bally's Lake Tahoe, Harrah's Lake Tahoe, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Lake Tahoe, and Harveys Lake Tahoe.

Permitting conditions laid out by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency require paid parking to be in place when the events center makes its debut -expected at the beginning of 2023-, while the microtransit won’t be required to be in place until summer 2023, reports Tahoe Daily Tribune. However, Lew Feldman, an attorney involved in the permit process, hopes to start sooner.

While Harrah’s and Harveys have already installed paid parking, Bally’s and Hard Rock are yet to do so -likely to occur this summer- in order to satisfy the conditions, which were put in place to lower vehicle miles traveled related to the events center. Money is set to be kept by property owners, and the TRPA won’t make a profit off of these parking meters.

Harrah's Lake Tahoe

“We’ve done an exhaustive analysis of the impacts of both transit and paid parking as part of the environmental assessment that was done during the approval process for the events center and the traffic engineers and experts forecast that the combination of those strategies would mitigate the trip generation that would’ve otherwise occurred,” Feldman said, reports the cited source.

The free microtransit service strategy is to complement paid parking: riders may request a ride from an app and a van will pick them up, and then drive them to their destinations. Guests staying outside of the casino corridor can utilize the service -available from the Al Tahoe area through the casino corridor-  and not worry about parking their car.

There are currently about 8,000 parking spots in total in the casino corridor, although at peak times only about 5,000 are occupied. A significant burden on parking in the area is not expected, and even if there should be one, microtransit will fill that role. “One would expect the demand for parking will reduce in light of the availability of free transit,” Feldman said.

Rendering for South Tahoe Events Center

The Tahoe South Events Center is set to be “a new and unparalleled venue for conventions, special events and entertainment” on Lake Tahoe’s south shore. The new Events Center will complement local resort services by leveraging the existing hotel bed base, utilizing available parking, and concentrating activity near restaurant, retail and recreation areas.

The first steel beams in the new center were placed in December, with International Coliseums Company overseeing the construction of the project. The center is expected to host up to 130 events a year with opportunities to expand visitation into shoulder seasons and mid-week periods. The economic impact on the entire community is estimated at $40-60 million per year.